Ijviproveivie



G. PERKlNs & 1. A. STETSON.

Improvemen in MaS'-Cats N. 132,774, unnamed Mov. 5,1872. l

UETTEE STnTEs PATENT OEEICE.

GILBERT PERKINS, OF LYNNFIELD,'AND JAMES A. STTSON, OF GIiOUCES TER,MASSACHUSETTS.

IEPROVEEENTIN EAST-coms? Specification forming part of Letters PatentNo. l32,774, dated November 5, 18W

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GILBERT PERKINS, of Lynneld, and JAMES A. STETsoN,of Gloucester, in the county oi' Essex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improved Mast-Goat; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing, taken 4in connection with the drawing which accompanies andforms part of this specification, is a description of our invention vsufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

The foot of a vessels mast, where it enters the deck, is generallyencompassed by a conical ring of canvas, nailed at its upper edge aroundthe mast, and at its lower edge to the deck, the canvas being coveredwith paint to render it impervious, this ring, or mast -.coat, as it iscalled, being for the purpose of protectin g and rendering imperviousthe joint between the mast and the deck. Owing, however, to the exposureand early wear ofthe canvas, and its liability to be broken on accountof its lack of elasticity, such mast-coats are but imperfect protectors,and the object ot' our invention is to provide a mast-coat which shallbe both impervious in its structure and elastic to such degree as toprevent its being broken by stepping upon it, or by other means. Forthis purpose we use an elastic water-proof material, like India rubberor rubber compound, a sheet of which being cut to proper form and drawnaround the. mast, and having its upper edge nailed to the mast and itsouter edge to the deck, forms an impervious joint at the mast and asimilar joint at the deck, with a surface that not only sheds the water,but that will yield at all parts of it, so as to preserve and retain anunbroken water-proof condition under any and all exposure to which itmay be subjected. It is in such a mast-coat that our invention consists.

The drawing represents a part of a deck surface and of the mastextending therefrom.

a denotes the deck; b, the mast; c, the mast coat. This coat ispreferably made of common sheet-rubber compound, and may be formed of asingle piece,but preferably of two or more pieces puttogether in asomewhat conical form, the upper edge f bein g nailed around the mastbya row of nails, g, and the outer edge h to the deck by a row of nails,t'. When the ring or band d is used, it is drawn over the upper edge ofthe piece e, and the two edges are then united by a suitable cement, orby tacks, as desired. The coat may be made of any suitable form and ofany suitable elastic water-proof material, which will admit of its upperedge being tacked to the mast and its outer edge h' to the deck.

We claim- A mast-coat made of elastic water-proof material,substantially as described, and adapted to be applied to the mast anddeck, as shown and set forth. Y

GILBERT PERKINS.l JAMES A. STETSON.

Witnesses FRANCIS GoULo, M. W. FEOTEINGHAM.

